


The Burden in a Name

by owlways_and_forever



Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [26]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Arguing, Baby Names, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29277057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlways_and_forever/pseuds/owlways_and_forever
Summary: Harry and Ginny need to decide on a name for their baby, but they have very different perspectives.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029726
Kudos: 1





	The Burden in a Name

**Author's Note:**

> HSWW Term 13, Assignment 1 | Gryffindor | Zoology, Task 3 | Write about someone performing one of the following actions: lashing out in anger.  
> IPC #199 - [action] shouting  
> 365 #176 - Kick
> 
> Summer Seasonal Prompts:  
> Days of the Year | St. James the Great Day | Write about someone with a fiery temper.  
> Unlucky Month for Weddings | 18. [word] marriage  
> Romance Awareness Month | Hinny  
> National Indoor Plant Month | 9. Spider Plant | [plot point] starting a family  
> Colours | 7. Champagne  
> Flowers | 10. Lady’s Slippers | [dialogue] “All I want is a nice foot massage, a glass of wine, and to sleep for fifty years.”  
> Crystals & Gemstones | 13. Pearl | [word] loyalty  
> Tarot Reading | 6. Two of Cups (reversed) | Write about disharmony in a relationship.  
> Gryffindor Characters | 25. Harry Potter  
> Build-a-Fairytale | Step 5: The Ending | 7. Everyone is doomed | [genre] angst  
>    
> Camp Hogwarts Prompts:  
> Tug of War | HarryGinny  
> Archery | 21. [style] past tense  
> Dodgeball | 28. [word] emotional  
> Crazy Golf | Hole 15: Molten Mountain | Write about someone ‘exploding’ in temper.  
> Cooking | 19. Bread | [weather] thunderstorm  
> Baking | 4. Gingersnaps | [character] Ginny Weasley  
> Shelter Building | 9. Softer, Weaker Twigs | [weather] windy  
> We’re Going Caving | 10. Spare flashlight | [dialogue] “I don’t want to look at you right now.”  
> Going on a Nature Hunt | Easy Natural Object | 3. A feather | Write one of your favourite characters.  
> Fairy Gardens | 16. Mini stone planter | [genre] family  
> Horse Riding | 28. Misty | [weather] rainy  
> Fireworks Show | 12. Judas’ Belt | [emotion] regret  
> Quilt Making | Chevron | 2. [emotion] tired  
> Scrapbooking | 14. Mini pegs | [action] cuddling  
> Friendship Bracelets | Colorful Beads | 4. [dialogue] “I love you, you know. So much.”  
> Cat & Mouse | 7. [word] tentative  
> Simon Says | 1. [action] stretching

Ginny walked through the door of the apartment and slammed it behind her, exhausted. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed. Except for maybe eat like eight cheeseburgers. Why did this baby only want junk food? Gwenog would kill her if she ate all this crap. Sighing, Ginny walked through the little flat to the bedroom she and Harry shared, finding him sitting on the bed folding laundry. It was such an endearing sight, and it almost made her forget how tired she was. 

“Hey,” he greeted, smiling at the sight of her. “There’s some lasagna warming in the oven for you.”

“Oh thank god,” Ginny exhaled, leaning over the bed to kiss his cheek quickly before she made her way to the kitchen and grabbed the lasagna.

She warmed it up til it was piping hot with a wave of her wand and cut a large piece, placing it on a plate and grabbing a fork. Ginny brought her dinner back to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed next to him. It felt so good to put her feet up.

“Feeling okay?” he asked. “Do you need anything?”

“All I want is a nice foot massage, a glass of wine, and to sleep for fifty years,” she replied, leaning her head back against their headboard and stretching her feet and arms before she started eating her dinner.

“Well, I can probably help you with one of those. You’re pushing yourself too hard,” Harry said, reaching over and gently massaging her thigh. “You shouldn’t be working out so much, I know you want to stay in shape for next season but this is too much.”

Ginny only rolled her eyes in response, and Harry sighed, instantly knowing that his words would make no difference. She knew it annoyed him, that she still spent so much time training, but she wouldn’t apologize for it. 

“I was thinking about names for the baby earlier,” she said after a long minute. “I thought we could talk about it tonight, see if we can’t decide on something.”

Harry’s interest was immediately piqued, and he turned to look at her with excitement bright in his eyes. He always wanted to talk about the baby, anything for the baby. She loved that, even when it annoyed her. But he was gonna be  _ such  _ a good dad.

Rain began to patter against the windows, a soft rhythm that filled the silence. Harry turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow and rubbing his hand over the swell of her belly, feeling the baby kick against his hand and smiling at the sensation.

“The thing is,” Ginny continued, taking another bite of lasagna, “I can’t really decide what kind of names I like. Nothing super traditional, but nothing obscure either. It might be a long hunt before we settle on something.”

“Actually,” Harry answered, sounding a bit hesitant, “I kind of had a thought about that.”

“Do tell,” she replied, snuggling deeper into the pillows behind her.

“My parents,” he said simply. “I’d like to honor them.”

Ginny closed her fingers tightly around her fork and clenched her jaw. She had expected this, but all the same, she hoped it wouldn’t happen. As the weeks had ticked by, she kept telling herself that if he was going to suggest it, he would’ve done so by now.

“No,” she said softly, staring at her plate resolutely.

“What?” Harry reeled, looking up at her with confusion in his beautiful green eyes. “But my parents -”

“I said no!” Ginny repeated more firmly, dropping the nearly empty plate on the bedspread and pressing her fingers to her temples.

“Ginny, I don’t understand,” he asked, his voice quiet. “Can you just explain to me why we shouldn’t name our kid after my parents? I mean, they’re my  _ parents _ , and this baby is never going to know them or have anything from them or...or…”

“I know that,” Ginny answered. “And I know how hard it is for you to think about your parents never getting to meet your child but...it’s a lot of pressure. Your parents are famous, and this kid is already going to grow up in the limelight enough, they don’t need to be hearing all the time about all the things their grandparents  _ and  _ their parents did and feeling like they’re never going to live up to the reputation. He should have his own name, not some impossible standard to live up to. There’s a reason you don’t see a bunch of kids in the wizarding world named Merlin.”

“But my parents are heroes!” Harry protested. “Our child should feel honoured to have the same name as them!”

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, Harry! Your parents weren’t the only heroes in this war!” Ginny exploded, pushing herself off the bed with difficulty and running her fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath. “And you’re not the only one in this relationship who lost family.”

“Ginny…” he sighed, but she didn’t turn around, too angry still.

Frustrated and annoyed, Ginny stripped off her sweaty clothes and turned the shower on, barely waiting for the water to warm up before she stepped in.

“I didn’t forget,” Harry said, poking his head into the bathroom. “I just figured you wouldn’t want to name the baby after, I thought George…”

“You don’t get to decide what I want,” Ginny hissed, steam filling the air between them, fueled by her anger. “And I don’t believe for a second that your thought process was that deep, all you thought about was your precious parents and how they sacrificed themselves for you.”

“They did!”

“I don’t care!” she spat, throwing up her arms and sending droplets of water flying through the air. “I know that they saved your life and they’re your heroes, but honestly Harry, how much do you even know about what they did in the first war? Maybe they never saved anyone else, maybe they killed Death Eaters. Just because they’re your heroes, doesn’t mean they single- handedly saved the wizarding world.”

“Well it is because of them that Voldemort was gone the first time!” Harry countered, his own temper starting to rise.

“Not just them!” Ginny shouted. “There were a whole host of witches and wizards in the Order the first time, all of them fighting to save people, including, by the way, Mum’s brothers, who were both murdered too. And I never got to meet them either, and I know what they did, and they saved a lot of people. So don’t you  _ dare _ invalidate their sacrifice by saying that  _ your parents  _ were the only heroes of this war.” 

Harry was silent and Ginny had to resist the urge to look over and see if he was still standing there. Thunder cracked over the sound of the shower running, and she saw the accompanying flash of lightning in the mirror. 

Ginny turned the shower off and turned to face the rest of the bathroom, finding it empty. She stepped out, water sliding down her legs to pool in the plush mat on the floor. Sighing heavily, Ginny dried herself off and grabbed the champagne coloured nightgown she’d been wearing to bed lately. Normally, she wasn’t entirely fond of nightgowns, but sleeping had gotten so uncomfortable and the silk just felt so cool against her skin. Stepping back out to the bedroom, she found Harry looking out the window as the lightning ripped through the sky and the wind battered the sides of their apartment. 

Seeing him standing there, Ginny was almost tempted to forgive him and let her anger slip away, as easily as the water sliding down the shower drain.

“I just think I owe them my loyalty and my respect, Gin, I need you to understand that,” Harry said, turning to look at her with tired eyes. “Look, I know you’re emotional right now, so just take some time to think about it, okay?”

“I’m  _ emotional _ ?” Ginny fumed, seething with rage. “ _ EMOTIONAL?!  _ I don’t want to  _ look  _ at you right now!”

She stomped over to the bed, yanking the duvet back violently and crawling under it, rolling onto her side so her back was to Harry.

“Ginny, I didn’t mean it like that,” he sighed, and she could feel the mattress dip as he sat down next to her. “I just want you to take some more time to think this through.”

“I don’t need more time, Harry!” she raged. “Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I don’t know what I want, and I swear on Merlin’s grave that I am not naming my child after anyone’s parents!”

“Great, that’s just great,” Harry hissed, flopping backward on the bed and crossing his arms over his chest. “First you don’t want to to marry me, now this, I -”

“Not this again!” Ginny huffed in reply. “I told you, Harry, marriage shouldn’t be about having a baby together, it should be about us! I don’t want you to propose to me out of duty or whatever, and that’s why I said no. When we’re ready, when we’ve hit that point just the two of us, with nothing to do with the baby,  _ then  _ we can talk about getting married, but that’s not what it was when you asked me!”

“I am there, Ginny, I didn’t just ask you because of the baby,” he replied. “I want you, and only you. Of course it’s not just about duty.”

Ginny was quiet. She didn’t know what to say to that. The mattress dipped again and Ginny could feel the warmth from Harry’s body on her back, one of his hands hovering a breath away from her shoulder.

“I love you, you know. So much,” he whispered, his voice tentative and full of tenderness. 

Ginny felt regret wash over her, and she turned over - with some difficulty - so that she was facing Harry, their faces only a few inches apart. She reached out and took one of his hands in hers, while his other one wrapped around her waist.

“I know you do,” she whispered. “I love you too.”

Harry smiled, and it made her heart squeeze happily. Ginny cuddled closer to him, nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder, and Harry pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I will marry you,” she said, looking up at Harry so she could see the happiness on his face. “But only if you drop the name thing.”

Harry opened his mouth like he wanted to protest, but he seemed to think better of it, settling back into the happy feeling that had begun to spread at the start of her answer.

“Middle name,” he said, trying for one last bargain.

Ginny thought carefully for a moment, weighing her options and also how much she wanted to fight about it.

“Fine,” she agreed after a minute. “You’ve got a deal.”


End file.
